tshannon

He's passing a QB cram course
Kordell Stewart bristles about talk he's a slow learner. He is eager to
prove otherwise.


By David Haugh
Tribune staff reporter

July 26, 2003, 8:17 PM CDT
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- To hear Kordell Stewart's critics whisper, one might
believe the Bears' new quarterback struggles so mightily with football
intellect that anything in the film room short of a Barney video goes in one
ear and out the other.

Rest assured that Stewart hears those whispers, and knows the validity of
them, if not the source.

"No one's out here playing and no one's out here doing that stuff so it's
all he said, she said," Stewart snapped on the first day of training camp
when asked about well-traveled rumors that he hasn't grasped the Bears'
offense yet.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "I don't get caught up in
that stuff. I play the game and I do this for a living. The game is played
out here, not on the Internet, not on the sidelines, not with the fans, and
not with [the media], but on the football field."

On the football field, Bears players and coaches paint a far different
picture of Stewart than the quarterback portrayed in cyberspace and AM radio
as a slow learner.

Hear offensive coordinator John Shoop talk about how many times Stewart has
pulled him aside since arriving in Chicago in March to explain the nuances
of a pass route. Hear receiver Marty Booker marvel at the way Stewart
anticipates his routes as if they have been teammates for years, not months.
Hear backup quarterback Cory Sauter recall how Stewart asked him more
questions than a telemarketer during Stewart's first few months in town.

"When Kordell first came in, he didn't know a thing," Sauter said. "But he
has studied a lot and was there every day. He had an awful lot of questions
and did an awful lot of preparing."

Hear it all, and it becomes clear that Stewart not only has worked hard at
picking up the offense this off-season but also has picked up his new
teammates' respect along the way.

At times Stewart can look like a Pro Bowl passer for seven straight tosses
and an Arena Football League quarterback on the eighth, and the prudence of
his decision-making occasionally deserves scrutiny. But Bears coaches
believe the pros outweigh the cons and the players already believe in their
quarterback, a product of Stewart hanging around Halas Hall in the
off-season often enough to know the secretaries by name.

"He has been vocal, he has been a leader by example in the weight room and
meeting room and he's upbeat all the time," linebacker Brian Urlacher said.
"The offense needs that, they need confidence, and he gives them that with
his leadership."

Leadership comes as naturally to Stewart as a smile. There are as many
theories on what makes a good leader as there are to what makes a good
parent, but laughter always has been a big part of Stewart's method.

He likes to keep things looser than a necktie at 5 p.m. on Friday, and
coming to Chicago won't change that no matter what happens on Sundays.

"I'm going to be upbeat regardless, win lose or draw\x{2014}you have to be,"
Stewart said. "This is what I love I do, go out and make guys look crazy on
the opposite side. Each guy has to be a leader in his own way."

So, for instance, he pokes fun at Bears linebackers coach Gary Moeller about
the day in 1994 when Stewart's Colorado team beat Moeller's Michigan team
with a 64-yard "Hail Mary" pass for a touchdown as time expired.

"He's still not too happy when I do that," Stewart laughed.

He teases a fan about a T-shirt, a player about a hairdo.

He is as likely to razz an undrafted free agent as he is Urlacher, and that
combination of affability and approachability often goes a long way in a
football locker room ever wary of cliques.

"Kordell's a very humble guy and down to earth, and that makes him easy to
talk to," Sauter said. "It doesn't matter if you're a starter, a backup,
whatever you are on this team, he'll treat you with respect."

It helps that Stewart likes the guys on this team, and vice versa, never a
given for a free agent awarded a starting spot before getting a jersey
number.

"Guys are cool, into hanging out with each other and there's no animosity,"
Stewart said. "You'd think guys would be walking around with their heads
down, but everybody's excited and enthused about what's in front of them.
Being a part of that is what I wanted."

Next on his list, Stewart wants to win and believes the Bears can. He
watches film from last season and wonders how 4-12 ever happened. He looks
around the locker room and sees potential where so many others see
mediocrity\x{2014}or worse. He gets excited at the thought of proving people wrong
about him and the new team he leads, all the doubters in Chicago and in
Pittsburgh

No piece is any more important than Stewart, nor will one be watched closer.

"That goes with the territory," Stewart said. "You need the quarterback to
be the spinal cord of your offense, because at the end of the day, he's the
guy who's going to get the boos and the criticism. That's the time you take
it on, and keep the guys moving on. That's the sign of a leader."
Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune <http://www.chicagotribune.com/>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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--
Quote of the Day for Friday, July 25, 2003
There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst
of it is half of them are true.
-- Sir Winston Churchill